I work for an engineering company that would like me to relocate to Huntsville AL from the Pittsburgh PA area. It is a big decision for my wife and I. I grew up near where I currently live and my extended family is nearby. Other than one co-worker and a few business acquaintances, I know no one in the Huntsville area.

Are there any locals that can give me advice on the area? Schools, churches, neighborhoods, activities, places to avoid, etc?

Since you won't have any family in the area, you can borrow mine! LOL ... they'll drive you batcrap crazy, but they'll feed you good!

Good thing with the Huntsville area is that it is large enough to have great medical facilities and such. If you enjoy city life, it will probably be big enough, but if you think you would like a little bit more of the country, you don't have to go far to find it.

If you enjoy city life, it will probably be big enough, but if you think you would like a little bit more of the country, you don't have to go far to find it.

This is good to know, and sounds a lot like where I live now in the 'burbs of Pittsburgh. I go 15 miles one way and I am in the center of the city. I go 5 miles in the other direction, and it is farmland.

Huntsville is the finest city in the state. They have the best schools, highest average income and a real estate market that has at least wethered the storm hit nation-wide so, if you move again, your odds of selling your home are very high.

I would recommend the Madison County School district. Bob Jones High School is consistently one of the highest rated high schools in the state.

Also, homes west of town in the Harvest and County Line areas are very nice.

RLTW

21
posted on 10/11/2011 10:38:17 AM PDT
by military cop
(I carry a .45....cause they don't make a .46....)

I have good friends who live in Alabama, near Birmingham, and I have visited them a couple of time. Although i can't tell you about Huntsville, I'd like to make a plug for Catholic schools in Alabama, which I learned a bit about when I visited. Although only about 7% of Alabama residents are Catholic, the Catholics have done a good job in the past couple of decades of building and sustaining solid Catholic schools — and many of the kids who attend the schools are Protestants whose parents want the Christian values and solid education. One of the negatives I've heard and read about Alabama is that the public schools are weak. So, even if you are not Catholic, I encourage you to consider Catholic school for your kids if you move there.

A lot depends on your expectations and your age. If you are in your 30s (or younger), you may be able to adapt to the cultural change and Huntsville will become more like home to you over time (as long as you keep an open mind and embrace the differences!). If you are older, Huntsville could be a place where you live and work, but it won’t be home and you will probably move back to PA within a decade (probably sooner; ESPECIALLY if you make mental comparisons to PA and decide that NOTHING in AL is as good as it is in PA).

Alabama has a lot to offer. It’s NOT (as the liberal media and SNL would have you believe) home to rednecks and idiots. The Goddard Space Center has been there since the 40s and is a foremost space R & D lab. It also has easy access to to the Gulf of Mexico, Georgia, northern Florida and, oh yeah, did I mention the University of Alabama?

I haven’t lived in Alabama for many. many years, but I have traveled the US extensively. You could do much, MUCH worse than Huntsville.

Finally, if your company is paying for the move, jump on it!! You’re getting to keep your job. That’s HUGH, today!!

A lot depends on your expectations and your age. If you are in your 30s (or younger), you may be able to adapt to the cultural change and Huntsville will become more like home to you over time (as long as you keep an open mind and embrace the differences!). If you are older, Huntsville could be a place where you live and work, but it won’t be home and you will probably move back to PA within a decade (probably sooner; ESPECIALLY if you make mental comparisons to PA and decide that NOTHING in AL is as good as it is in PA).

Alabama has a lot to offer. It’s NOT (as the liberal media and SNL would have you believe) home to rednecks and idiots. The Goddard Space Center has been there since the 40s and is a foremost space R & D lab. It also has easy access to to the Gulf of Mexico, Georgia, northern Florida and, oh yeah, did I mention the University of Alabama?

I haven’t lived in Alabama for many. many years, but I have traveled the US extensively. You could do much, MUCH worse than Huntsville.

Finally, if your company is paying for the move, jump on it!! You’re getting to keep your job. That’s HUGH, today!!

That is such a heart warming story, wbill. I think a good judge of an area is how they treat people. It is obvious from your story that they demanded you come to dinner and not be alone on Christmas. You must have felt very blessed that year.

Huntsville is a nice place, especially if you’re an engineer. Very affordable real estate, reasonable traffic, not too far from several larger cities. Madison is a nice area (west side, surrounded by Huntsville) and has good schools. Easy hop to the airport, too.

When I left the service I wanted to move to San Diego. I have traveled all over the world and most of the country, and this was my favorite spot. Before I moved here I found this: http://www.greatschools.org/

I spent literally days using that tool and rent finders to find an area with the best schools in an area I could afford. I found the absolute best fit and moved right to that neighborhood. It was a perfect match. I can tell you now that I have lived here almost 2 years that EVERY area where the school scores were highest are the NICEST areas that you would want to live in and EVERY area where the scores are miserable are the EXACT areas you want to avoid like the plague.

I have been in several places in Georgia and some are downright awful while others are both extremely beautiful with wonderful people. I have not been specifically to Huntsville so I can't give you specific advice, except that if you do move, check out that school finder. Even if you send your kids to private school or homeschool, that tool will find the neighborhood you want to live in.

I grew up there and vist frequently. It is a great town and I can’t recommend it highly enough. You will suffer culture shock if you are coming from the North because in Huntsville people actually speak to each other in friendly tones and like each other’s company. It is about as cuturally diverse as you can get but still retains a Southern feel to it, especially once you enter the countryside. It takes about six months to get used to it, then you wonder why more people don’t know about it. Again, pack up never look back.

If you are a shooter I can probably hook you up with range info and contacts with other shooters. I have a friend who lives there and another friend who used to run matches up there. I’m in Hoover myself.

Not specific advice, as I’ve never been to Alabama: our family made a similar move for a job 10 years ago (10+hour driving distance) away from all our family.

Start sinking roots in right away! We played the outsider far too long, busy with kids and work, spending every time we had two days free trying to get back “home”, Christmases, baptisms, etc.

It took us this long to accept that where we live now is home, and trust me, it’s much easier trying to integrate into a community when you can preface conversations with “Yeah, I’m new here” rather than “Well, we’ve been here a decade, we just couldn’t be bothered”.

Yep. I was afraid that it was going to be a terrible Christmas, and it turned out pretty darn well.

I spent most of Christmas (left the 23rd, returned the 26th) the following year in New York City. I spent most nights either at work, or in the hotel room. Quite a contrast.

One redeeming feature was a small all-night diner that was right close to where I worked in the City. Guy who owned it was a prince of a fellow, never got his name (and wish I had) once I figured out how to get around his thick Greek accent. Anyway, I'd schlep through there after work at around 3am. He'd either ask for help cleaning out the prior days' leftovers ("Here! Try This! Is Good!!" and it always was) ... or he'd experiment on me for the next day ("Here! Try this! Is good????? and it usually was).

If I was living life right, I'd get there just as he was taking the baklava out of the oven. I can still taste it, man that was good. A bright spot in an otherwise unpleasant experience.

I'm glad I don't have that job anymore. Nice to be home at night with the family.

My fiancee’s nephew lives in Huntsville. he is a high level NASA consultant. Huntsville is a very concentrated area of highly paid professionals. Its pretty and has a good climate. You will probably love it.

50
posted on 10/11/2011 11:12:35 AM PDT
by Georgia Girl 2
(The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)

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